News in brief

August 10, 2011 —

Shots fired outside Monticello housing complexMONTICELLO, NY — Monticello police are investigating a shots-fired incident that occurred at approximately 9:40 p.m. on Tuesday, August 2 at the Evergreen Drive housing complex in the village of Monticello. A 2005 Dodge caravan being operated by a 28-year-old Monticello woman was struck twice by gunfire as she was driving out of the complex. Also in the vehicle were the woman’s four children (two sets of twins ages two and eight).

The vehicle was struck on the front bumper, and the front passenger side tire was also hit and deflated. None of the occupants of the vehicle was injured. It is not known if the woman’s vehicle was specifically targeted or if the shots were intended toward others. Officers later recovered a 12 gauge shotgun from behind a business on Forestburg Road that possibly was related to the incident.

Anyone with information about this incident can call Monticello police in confidence at 845/794-4422.

Dimock billboard taken downDIMOCK, PA — Less than 24 hours after Dimock residents held a press conference beneath a newly installed billboard that called attention to contamination in their water wells (see last week’s briefs), the billboard was taken down.

At the press conference, a lawyer employed by Cabot videotaped residents as they spoke about living in homes with contaminated wells, and a Cabot spokesperson, George Stark called the billboard “a lie” and disputed that the discolored water came from the Sautner well. He said he was unaware that tests conducted by Duke University and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection had found dozens of contaminants in the water.

The billboard had displayed a photograph of brownish water drawn from the well of Craig and Julie Sautner, and listed some of the chemical contaminants it contained. A representative of Park Outdoors, the company that rented the space for the billboard, said it was taken down at the request of the individual who owns the property where it was located.

Help for homeowners facing foreclosureMILFORD, PA — Homeowners can apply now for the federal Emergency Homeowner’s Loan Program (EHLP) if they are unable to make their monthly mortgage payments because of job loss or income reduction. The program will only be available through September 30.